The Theatre, Shoreditch
A very special day yesterday:
After giving a talk and two workshops to the Year 10 students at Oundle School, I came back to London and headed to Shoreditch.
A team from the Museum of London has found the remains of The Theatre, the playhouse built by James Burbage, and dismantled by his actor-son Richard, Will Shakespeare & their Company, one night in 1599. The materials were used to build the Globe playhouse across the river.
The Tower Theatre Company have begun a fund-raising project to build a new theatre around the site, and protect the remains. They asked me to come and speak a sonnet there yesterday.
I performed Sonnet 116 in OP on the Groundlings Gravel – one of very few actors to have spoken Shakespeare – and the first time that accent has been heard there – in 400 years.
A breathtaking moment. I’m a very lucky fellow.
Please head to the The Theatre’s website, and support the project.
The Theatre, Shoreditch
